THE COLONY OF PENNSYLVANIA.
1681-1775.
ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT OF PENNSYLVANIA.--THE SWEDES
AND DUTCH PLANT SETTLEMENTS ON THE WESTERN BANK OF THE
DELAWARE RIVER.--THE GOVERNOR OF NEW YORK SEEKS TO EXERCISE
JURISDICTION OVER THE TERRITORY OF PENNSYLVANIA.--THE FIRST
LAWS AGREED UPON IN ENGLAND.--PROVISIONS OF THE
LAW.--MEMORIAL AGAINST SLAVERY DRAUGHTED AND ADOPTED BY THE
GERMANTOWN FRIENDS.--WILLIAM PENN PRESENTS A BILL FOR THE
BITTER REGULATION OF SERVANTS.--AN ACT PREVENTING THE
IMPORTATION OF NEGROES AND INDIANS.--RIGHTS OF NEGROES.--A
DUTY LAID UPON NEGROES AND MULATTO SLAVES.--THE QUAKER THE
FRIEND OF THE NEGRO.--ENGLAND BEINGS TO THREATEN HER
DEPENDENCIES IN NORTH AMERICA.--THE PEOPLE OF PENNSYLVANIA
REFLECT UPON THE PROBABLE OUTRAGES THEIR NEGROES MIGHT
COMMIT.
Long before there was an organized government in Pennsylvania, the
Swedes and Dutch had planted settlements on the western bank of the
Delaware River. But the English crown claimed the soil; and the
governor of New York, under patent from the Duke of York, sought to
exercise jurisdiction over the territory. On the 11th of July, 1681,
"Conditions and Concessions were agreed upon by William Penn,
Proprietary," and the persons who were "adventurers and purchasers in
the same province." Provision was made for the punishment of persons
who should injure Indians, and that the planter injured by them should
"not be his own judge upon the Indian." All controversies arising
between the whites and the Indians were to be settled by a council of
twelve persons,--six white men and six Indians.
The first laws for the government of the colony were agreed upon in
England, and in 1682 went into effect. Provision was made for the
registering of all servants, their full names, amount of wages paid,
and the time when they received their remuneration. It was strictly
required that servants should not be kept beyond the time of their
indenture, should be kindly treated, and the customary outfit
furnished at the time of their freedom.
The baneful custom of enslaving Negroes had spread through every
settlement in North America, and was even "tolerated in Pennsylvania
under the specious pretence of the religious instruction of the
slave."[509] In 1688 Francis Daniel Pastorius draughted a memorial
against slavery, which was adopted by the Germantown Friends, and by
them sent up to the Monthly Meeting, and thence to the Yearly Meeting
at Philadelphia.[510] The original document was found by Nathan Kite
of Philadelphia in 1844.[511] It was a remarkable document, and the
first protest against slavery issued by any religious body in America.
Speaking of the slaves, Pastorius asks, "Have not these negroes as
much right to fight for their freedom as you have to keep them
slaves?" He believed the time would come,--
"When, from the gallery to the farthest seat,
Slave and slave-owner shall no longer meet,
But all sit equal at the Master's feet."
He regarded the "buying, selling, and holding men in slavery, as
inconsistent with the Christian religion." When his memorial came
before the Yearly Meeting for action, it confessed itself "unprepared
to act," and voted it "not proper then to give a positive judgment in
the case." In 1696 the Yearly Meeting pronounced against the further
importation of slaves, and adopted measures looking toward their moral
improvement. George Keith, catching the holy inspiration of humanity,
with a considerable following, denounced the institution of slavery
"as contrary to the religion of Christ, the rights of man, and sound
reason and policy."[512]
While these efforts were, to a certain extent, abortive, yet,
nevertheless, the Society of the Friends made regulations for the
better treatment of the enslaved Negroes. The sentiment thus created
went far toward deterring the better class of citizens from purchasing
slaves. To his broad and lofty sentiments of humanity, the pious
William Penn sought to add the force of positive law. The published
views of George Fox, given at Barbadoes in 1671, in his "Gospel Family
Order, being a short discourse concerning the ordering of Families,
both of Whites, Blacks, and Indians," had a salutary effect upon the
mind of Penn. In 1700 he proposed to the Council "_the necessitie of
a law [among others] about ye marriages of negroes_." The bill was
referred to a joint committee of both houses, and they brought in a
bill "_for regulating Negroes in their Morals and Marriages_ &c." It
reached a second reading, and was lost.[513] Penn regarded the
teaching of Negroes the sanctity of the marriage relation as of the
greatest importance to the colony, and the surest means of promoting
pure morals. Upon what grounds it was rejected is not known. He
presented, at the same session of the Assembly, another bill, which
provided "_for the better regulation of servants in this province and
territories_." He desired the government of slaves to be prescribed
and regulated by law, rather than by the capricious whims of masters.
No servant was to be sold out of the Province without giving his
consent, nor could he be assigned over except before a justice of the
peace. It provided for a regular allowance to servants at the
expiration of their time, and required them to serve five days extra
for every day's absence from their master without the latter's assent.
A penalty was fixed for concealing runaway slaves, and a reward
offered for apprehending them. No free person was allowed to deal with
servants, and justices and sheriffs were to be punished for neglecting
their duties in the premises.
In case a Negro was guilty of murder, he was tried by two justices,
appointed by the governor, before six freeholders. The manner of
procedure was prescribed, and the nature of the sentence and
acquittal. Negroes were not allowed to carry a gun or other weapons.
Not more than four were allowed together, upon pain of a severe
flogging. An Act for raising revenue was passed, and a duty upon
imported slaves was levied, in 1710. In 1711-12, an Act was passed
"_to prevent the importation of negroes and Indians_" into the
Province. A general petition for the emancipation of slaves by law was
presented to the Legislature during this same year; but the wise
law-makers replied, that "it was neither just nor convenient to set
them at liberty." The bill passed on the 7th of June, 1712, but was
disapproved by Great Britain, and was accordingly repealed by an Act
of Queen Anne, Feb. 20, 1713. In 1714 and 1717, Acts were passed to
check the importation of slaves. But the English government, instead
of being touched by the philanthropic endeavors of the people of
Pennsylvania, was seeking, for purposes of commercial trade and gain,
to darken the continent with the victims of its avarice.
Negroes had no political rights in the Province. Free Negroes were
prohibited from entertaining Negro or Indian slaves, or trading with
them. Masters were required, when manumitting slaves, to furnish
security, as in the other colonies. Marriages between the races were
forbidden. Negroes were not allowed to be abroad after nine o'clock at
night.
In 1773 the Assembly passed "_An Act making perpetual the Act
entitled, An Act for laying a duty on negroes and mulatto slaves_,"
etc., and added ten pounds to the duty. The colonists did much to
check the vile and inhuman traffic; but, having once obtained a hold,
it did eat like a canker. It threw its dark shadow over personal and
collective interests, and poisoned the springs of human kindness in
many hearts. It was not alone hurtful to the slave: it transformed and
blackened character everywhere, and fascinated those who were anxious
for riches beyond the power of moral discernment. Here, however, as in
New Jersey, the Negro found the Quaker his practical friend; and his
upper and better life received the pruning advice, refining and
elevating influence, of a godly people. But intelligence in the slave
was an occasion of offending, and prepared him to realize his
deplorable situation. So to enlighten him was to excite in him a deep
desire for liberty, and, not unlikely, a feeling of revenge toward his
enslavers. So there was really danger in the method the guileless
Friends adopted to ameliorate the condition of the slaves.
When England began to breathe out threatenings against her
contumacious dependencies in North America, the people of Pennsylvania
began to reflect upon the probable outrages their Negroes would, in
all probability, commit. They inferred that the Negroes would be their
enemy because they were their slaves. This was the equitable findings
of a guilty conscience. They did not dare expect less than the
revengeful hate of the beings they had laid the yoke of bondage upon;
and verily they found themselves with "fears within, and fightings
without."
FOOTNOTES:
[509] Gordon's History of Penn., p. 114.
[510] Whittier's Penn. Pilgrim, p. viii.
[511] The memorial referred to was printed _in extenso_ in The Friend,
vol. xviii. No 16.
[512] Minutes of Yearly Meeting, Watson's MS. Coll. Bettle's notices
of N.S. Minutes, Penn. Hist. Soc.
[513] Colonial Rec., vol. i. pp. 598, 606. See also _Votes_ of
Assembly, vol. i. pp. 120-122.